Sleep Over Surprises
by Insert42Words
Summary: When Paige can't make their date, Walter hangs out with Ralph. A sequel to Regarding Romantic Relationships, but it almost makes sense by itself.


_AN: I'm writing an actual sequel to RRR, but it was too serious for my taste. At some point I'll finish that and possibly post it. I write this stuff because my other work is a far cry from carefree, so my fanfiction needs to be happy. Here's happy. But I don't mention Happy. I may still be in denial. Also, to all the Quintis fans that are asking about fedora sizes, my 6 month old has one so yeah, you can get those things pretty small._

Sleep Over Surprises

Paige groaned and violently vomited into the porcelain fixture. A feeble knock at the bathroom door was drowned out by yet another round of retching. Slowly, as if fearful of the sight that might await him, Ralph eased the door open to find his mother curled into a ball on the bathroom rug. He carefully placed the thermometer on the floor next to her and backed away, eager to escape.

Paige lifted her head weakly and grabbed the thermometer, but refused to voice her thanks. She feared that opening her mouth would result in another session of spewing. She ran the sensor over her forehead.

"Ugh." 102. This was certainly going to put a dent in her plans.

After another round of unsettling upchucking, Paige managed to drag herself into the shower and quickly clean up. She wrapped up in an old sweatshirt and sleep pants, finally collapsing on her bed. Before passing out, she noticed a glass of water and two small pills on her nightstand. Grateful for her genius son who was capable of taking care of both of them when necessary, Paige swallowed the pills and huddled under the blankets. At least it was the weekend…

Two hours later, Paige slowly stirred from her sleep to the sound of laughter coming from the living room. She smiled as she heard Walter and Ralph chatting happily about some random… wait? Walter?

Paige shot out of bed and nearly collapsed with yet another wave of nausea. She barely made it back to her bathroom before expelling more fluids that her body desperately needed to retain. The door opened behind her and Paige prayed silently that is was just Ralph coming to check on her.

"Paige?"

No such luck.

"Hey, Walter. You don't have to come in here. I can manage to barf all by myself."

"Oh.. um. Ok. I just wanted to check on you. Ralph said you've been doing this quite a bit. Do you think you need to go to the hospital?"

"No. It's just a virus. Fever, chills, vomiting. You know, typical stuff. It'll pass soon." She stopped talking then as the colour drained from her face, leaning back over the toilet.

Walter reached for her hair and held it back. Paige was torn between embarrassment and appreciation. Finally, she stumbled to the sink and cleaned up, then turned to walk back to her bed, but gravity was not her friend today. Stumbling into the door frame, Paige was tempted to slump to the floor and just sleep there. Before she could fall, Walter wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her close to his chest to keep her steady. He shuffled her back to bed and helped her lay down.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No, Walter. I'm sorry about our date. I didn't even call you to cancel. I was about to get in the shower to start getting ready when this whole damn thing hit. I hadn't been feeling well, but just figured it was from lack of sleep. Ugh. I hate this."

"Ralph called. Told me you were sick. Asked if I would come over and keep him company while you were out of commission. Since my original plans were scratched, spending an evening with him sounded good. We don't get to do that much anymore—just me and him, that is. It's been fun, actually. I hate that you're sick, but I'm enjoying the time with Ralph."

"Hmmm. Glad you two are good," Paige mumbled.

"Here, take some more medicine. You're still running a fever. You can alternate Tylenol and Advil until it breaks."

Paige swallowed the pills he handed her with a bit of water, then took a few more tentative sips. Sighing, she snuggled back under the covers that Walter draped around her shoulders, tucking her in as if she were a toddler.

"You're pretty good at this."

"Ah. Well, I've had some practice. Megan." Walter didn't want to elaborate and Paige didn't push.

"Thanks, Walter. Really, I'm sorry about the date. We're going to reschedule, right?"

Walter smiled as he stood from the bed. "Of course. Now get some sleep. Ralph and I ordered pizza and we're going to play video games. Text if you need me."

"Don't let him—"

"Stay up past 11, I know. We can manage, Paige. Now sleep. The sooner you get better, the sooner we can have that first date." He grinned as he walked out, shutting the door softly. Paige smiled weakly before rolling on to her side and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Back up front, Ralph was about to open the front door for what he assumed was the delivery guy, but he waited when he heard Walter approach. His mom wasn't crazy about him answering the door, so he decided to let the adult in the room handle that task. Walter grinned at the boy as he opened the door, happy to get food and go back to their games.

Standing on the door step, smile sliding off his face, stood Ralph's father.

"Drew?"

"Dad?"

"Walter?"

"Someone order a pizza?"

 _%$ &# #*& _

Paige slept late the next morning—well, late for her. She had woken up once more during the night, took two more pills and eagerly drank the bottle of water that Walter must have left out. She was feeling much better, with only a minor headache as a result of being slightly dehydrated. Now, she decided that a shower was certainly in order… and a good teeth scrubbing. 45 minutes later, having successfully showered and dressed without any toilet hugging, Paige was about to head up front to get food when a text message came in on her phone.

 _-Hope you don't mind but I slept on the couch last night. Ralph is still sleeping and I'm starting breakfast. Feel free to join me when you feel up to it._

Grinning at the thought of Walter making her breakfast, Paige decided to creep into Ralph's room to check on her son before joining Walter. She quietly tiptoed down the hall and entered her son's bedroom, surprised that the door was shut….

Walter was just about to crack a few eggs into a skillet when a loud scream echoed through the apartment. He dashed down the hall toward the noise but he had a pretty good idea as to the cause of the disturbance.

Sure enough, as he approached Ralph's room, he heard Paige shrieking, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Walter screeched to a halt at the door, hearing Ralph running up behind him. Paige whipped around to see her son and her… Walter… standing there in the door, both looking a bit sheepish.

"Someone please tell me what's going on," she demanded as Drew rose from the bed.

"Dad showed up last night. He had pizza with us and then we all played video games. I told him he could sleep in my bed instead of getting a cab to a hotel. It was more efficient. I slept on the sofa up front and Walter slept on the couch."

Paige frowned at Walter. She was a bit peeved that he failed to mention the additional guest in his morning text.

"Ok. Well, now that I'm awake, excuse me. I think I need to… dammit!" Paige scrambled back to the bathroom, retching once more, effectively removing what little liquid she had managed to take in.

Walter sighed and followed, hoping that his attentiveness would earn him some forgiveness for failing to mention Drew's arrival. He just didn't think that was information he should put in a text, but given the events that had just transpired… well, he got that wrong.

"Paige, I'm sorry. I didn't really know how to include that in my text this morning. I was going to tell you as soon as you came up front. I heard you get out of the shower so I figured I'd see you soon. Really, I'm truly sorry."

Paige had finished with the latest round of vomiting and was leaning her head on the side of the cool tub. She smiled up weakly at Walter. "It's fine. Not mad at you. Just didn't like the surprise. The shock made me dizzy. Better now. Weak but better."

Walter heaved a sigh of relief. He hated when Paige was upset with him. When she was ready, Walter helped Paige up and to the sink so she could brush her teeth again. Her earlier burst of energy had quickly faded and she was feeling extremely weak and exhausted once more.

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

"No. Can I just sit up front? I think my fever is gone and I'm tired of my bed."

"Sure. Come on." Walter reached for her hand, but Paige nearly fell as she began walking. Biting his lip, Walter decided against arguing with her request and gently scooped her into his arms, figuring this was the most efficient way to take her to the living room. Paige laid her head on Walter's shoulder, closing her eyes as he carried her with ease to the couch. As Walter was laying her down, Drew appeared from the hallway, failing to hide the smug smile on his face as he watched Walter brush Paige's hair back and throw a blanket over her.

After his sudden appearance the night before, Drew listened with a stony expression as Walter mumbled and stuttered through his explanation for his presence at Paige's apartment. He kinda figured this would happen eventually, but Paige had been adamant that her relationship with her boss was strictly professional. Clearly he had missed a few developments. Now, seeing how gentle Walter was with Paige, he couldn't bring himself to resent the mother of his child this happiness. And he did love being right, after all.

As Walter went back to the kitchen to restart breakfast, Drew dropped onto the sofa next to Paige, giving her his signature grin and offering her a bottle of water.

"Small sips, ok?"

"Thanks, Drew. Why didn't you call and let me know you were in town?" Paige asked as she took a drink.

"It wasn't set in stone. I know I should have said something, but I didn't want to get Ralph's hopes up in case it got scratched. I have to meet with a prospect tonight and then I'm on an early flight out in the morning. If it's ok, I'd like to take Ralph to the science center or something today. If he doesn't have other plans, that is."

"No, that's perfect," Paige replied, thinking that it would be near blissful to have the day free of parental responsibilities in order to recover. "I'm sure he'd like that. It's his call though, so just check with him."

"Thanks. So… you and Walter?"

"Drew don't start. My life, remember?"

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to say I told you so," he laughed as he walked away.

Paige dropped her head back, silently shaking with laughter at her crazy life.

15 minutes later, the three guys joined Paige in the living room, each with a plate of bacon and eggs as Paige nibbled on some plain toast and sipped at her tea (Earl Grey, hot).

The boys were filling her in on their night of video games and she was thrilled that Drew and Walter had apparently been not only civil, but friendly to each other. Walter admitted sheepishly that he had let Ralph stay up until almost midnight, but stating that since Drew so rarely got to spend time with his son, it was the most logical course of action. Paige smiled at his explanation, declaring that he had indeed made the logical choice. After all, her little boy seemed over the moon after getting to spend the night playing video games with both his best friend and his father, something Paige never dreamed would ever happen.

After breakfast, Ralph disappeared to get ready for his day out with his dad while Drew and Walter cleaned up from breakfast. Paige watched them work together in the kitchen from her spot on the couch, completely amazed that the pair seemed to have reached some sort of understanding.

A knock at the door brought them both back to the living room, all three adults wondering who could be calling at 9:30 on a Saturday morning. Drew reached for the door and opened it to find Cabe and Toby, whose worried expressions quickly changed to shock and confusion.

Drew opened the door wider, letting the two men enter the living room where Paige and Walter were quietly chatting.

"Jesus, Paige, Walter. Answer your damn phones sometime. What the hell is going on here?"

"We've had our phones on us, Toby. What's your problem?" Paige replied.

Walter smacked his hand into his face and groaned. "Uh. That's my fault. I didn't want Toby bothering us during our date, so I blocked the team's calls from our phones—yours, mine and Ralph's. I forgot to fix it before I fell asleep last night."

Paige started laughing, understanding Walter's thought process for once—Toby could be an ass. However, the jiggling caused by the laughter had her jumping up from the couch again and sprinting back to her bathroom.

"Geez, again? How much can one woman puke in the morning?" Drew questioned.

Toby's jaw dropped, drawing the wrong conclusion from Drew's statement. "What the hell, 197? Is it yours or Tim's?"

Walter shot Toby a menacing glare before darting after Paige, leaving Drew in tears from laughter and a very puzzled Cabe and Toby.

Still laughing, Drew's curiosity got the better of him. "Wait. Who's Tim?" He managed to ask.

Ralph came back just then, answering Drew's question. "He was Mom's boyfriend 48 hours ago. It's been a busy week."

%$&# #*&


End file.
